'The Walking Dead' No. 1 Sells for $10,000 on eBay

In March, a copy of the series' first issue sold for $7,000, while a year earlier another went for $2,500.

AMC’s The Walking Dead is known for smashing basic cable records, and the comic book that inspired the series continues to earn its own bragging rights, too.

A copy of The Walking Dead No. 1 sold on eBay on Wednesday for $10,100, an unusually large sum for a comic book published in the 21st century. The copy earned a 9.9 out of 10 mint rating from CGC, the benchmark comics appraisal service.

“This is an investment as The Walking Dead is now a permanent part of our pop culture and continues to grow in popularity,” touts the comic’s eBay description from the seller, FlyersComics.

The seller could be right about the “investment” part. A 9.9 copy of The Walking Dead No. 1 sold for $7,000 in March. A year earlier, an identically graded copy went for what now seems like bargain, just $2,500.

The zombie series from Image Comics debuted to low sales in October 2003, with reportedly just 7,300 copies printed, a small number that helps account for its high value today. But the series has since become a phenomenon. In July, its 100th issue sold 375,000 copies in its first day, making it the best-selling comic book issue of the century.

The Walking Dead was created by writer Robert Kirkman, who serves as an executive producer of the AMC zombie drama. The Image series, printed in stark black and white, released its 104th issue Wednesday.